


Unknown Being

by Lady_Bane



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angry Nero is Angry, Crossover, Its not a trap, Moralo Eval loves boxes, Overly Paranoid Mace Windu, Prison Breaks, Sassy Obi-Wan, Why does everyone think its a trap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-08
Updated: 2014-06-17
Packaged: 2017-12-14 07:06:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 11,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/834103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Bane/pseuds/Lady_Bane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the near destruction of Earth in 2258 AD, the Romulan Nero's ship, the Narada, is pulled through another wormhole in space, stranding him in 3632 - in a completely different galaxy. He is discovered by the Jedi Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka Tano, and soon thrown into the same prison as Cad Bane. The two form an unlikely alliance to escape the prison and make it to the pirate stronghold, Florrum.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_“I would rather suffer the end of Romulus a thousand times. I would rather die in agony than accept assistance from you.”_

_“You got it. Arm phasers. Fire everything we’ve got.”_

As the crew of the Enterprise watched, the Romulan ship was pulled into the black hole, never to be seen in that galaxy again.  

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------  

“Incoming transmission from Hoth.”  

“What is it?” Anakin Skywalker spun his chair around to face his copilot on the _Twilight_.  

“A singularity. There appears to be a large… black hole that has opened up over the north pole of the planet. It is currently dropping debris over the surface.” Obi-Wan pulled up the holoscreen next to him with a model of the situation. “The base there is requesting our presence.”  

Ahsoka Tano considered this from the back seat. “That’s not too far out of our way; we could go and still get back to Coruscant in time to deliver our report on Mustafar.”  

Anakin nodded, “Fine. Let’s just check this thing out and get back as fast as possible.”  

“I’ll put us on the far side of the planet. I’m not sure if this bucket of bolts would be able to deal with a black hole.” Obi-Wan Kenobi said, patting the dash of the ship comfortingly. “I’m charting a course for Hoth… engaging hyperspace now.”  

It was only about half an hour before they reached the ice planet. However, there was no sign of the black hole anywhere.  

“I don’t see anything. This could be a trap,” said Anakin.  

The clone trooper on Hoth who had sent the message contacted the Jedi’s ship again. “Sir, the black hole disappeared almost as soon as I sent the message to you. There is still debris on the surface, and its giving off very odd energy readings.”  

“We’ll check it out,” said Anakin, switching off the communicator. “I still say it’s a trap,” he said under his breath.  

Landing on the surface, they soon saw that what they thought was a dark stretch of rock was actually the remains of a very large object made up of some sort of jagged metal. Some of the debris was still smoldering despite the snowstorm, giving the air a putrid smell.  

Ahsoka squinted through her goggles, “It looks… like a ship. A very large ship, I don’t know where it could have been made. It’s certainly not a Republic ship.”  

Anakin wiped the quickly collecting snow off his shoulders, “I don’t know either, Snips. It sure doesn’t look like a Separatist ship to me.”  

“It could be something from the unknown regions,” mused Obi-Wan, “I’ll scan it for life forms.”  

The Jedi approached the debris. The closer they got to the heart of the object, the more they were convinced that it was indeed a ship. All sorts of technical devices lay on the snow, though none of them looked as though they could ever be used again. Then, they found the first body.  

The right half of the being was charred, and its right arm was lying three feet apart from the body. Anakin examined it. The being was most likely male, and human or humanoid. The part of the skin that was uncharred had several black, intricate tattoos, and the being’s ears had a sharp point to the end.  

“Not sure where this guy was from, the tattoos would suggest Zabrak but he has no horns. Strange.” Anakin said.  

“Very strange.” Obi-Wan agreed. Ahsoka just looked nauseous.  

Tapping his scanner, Obi-Wan sighed, “We may never find out, I’m not picking up any sign of life in this ship. Do you feel anything Anakin?”  

Anakin didn’t answer. He was staring at the snow. Right in front of the Jedi, where none of them had walked, was a set of footprints. And they were fresh.  

“I’m not sure how anyone could have survived this, but it looks like they did. Call the base, ask for a medical crew.” Obi-Wan ordered, “And keep your weapons at the ready, we don’t know how friendly this being will be.”  

The survivor had not gotten far. A short distance from the ship, the Jedi spotted a lone, staggering figure. Obi-Wan motioned for the others to stay back. Approaching the figure, Obi-Wan called out to them, “Hello! We are with the Galactic Republic. Do you need assistance?”  

The being turned, and Obi-Wan could see that they resembled the body they had found earlier, male, and with a shaved head and black tattoos. A large bleeding gash ran down the side of his face, and he had an old scar on the right side of his head that resembled teeth marks. His left ear was pointed as well, but his right ear looked as though it had been eaten by whatever had left the bite marks. The man started to stumble back towards Obi-Wan with a dazed, unfocused look in his black eyes. As he reached Obi-Wan he reached out and grabbed the front of Obi-Wan’s tunic, then fell, pulling the Jedi down with him.  

Gasping for breath, the man opened his mouth as if to say something, but could not get the words out. His eyes closing, the man breathed out one word.  

“Spock.”  


	2. Chapter 2

“Has he said anything?” asked Mace Windu over the holoscreen.

Ahsoka shrugged, “He said something. It sounded like ‘spock’ but I have no idea what a spock is or what he wants with it.”

“And there were no other survivors?”

Obi-Wan shook his head. “None. The ship is unsalvageable, as is most of the technology we managed to find in the debris.”

“Assuming that we’re trying to use it right, of course,” Anakin added, “It doesn’t look like anything I’ve seen before.”

Yoda frowned, considering this. “If this being wakes, ask him of his origins, you should. Tales there are, from my people, of travelers falling through dimensions and finding themselves in our galaxy, or of voyagers disappearing into wormholes and vanishing. A chance there is, of this survivor being one of these travelers.”

Mace Windu looked bewildered, but shook his head and said, “Either way, you must ask him where he comes from and how he crashed on Hoth. He may be part of a Separatist plot.”

While Shaak-Ti began to berate Windu for assuming this had anything to do with the Separatists, Obi-Wan left the conversation and walked to the back of the ship where medical droids were patching up the injured being. He was amazed that anyone could have survived a journey through a black hole, a crash landing on Hoth, and still been able to walk away. The being was severely injured, but the droids were confident that he would recover. Every so often he’d move in his sleep, and mutter something, but Obi-Wan could never make out what exactly it was past the oxygen mask he had been given. The being’s black coat still smelt of the burning ship, and was stained by something that might have been blood, but he wasn’t sure if it was his or another being’s.

Suddenly, the being’s eyes snapped open, and locked on the Jedi’s.

“Errr, hello.” Obi-Wan said awkwardly. The being’s eyes were unsettling.

A tattooed hand shot out and grabbed Obi-Wan’s wrist. He tried to pull away, but the being’s grip was strong despite being injured.

“watisthestardate,” he mumbled.

“I beg your pardon?” Obi-Wan asked.

The being reached up with his free hand and yanked off his oxygen mask, causing the medical droids to protest loudly. “What is the stardate?” he asked Obi-Wan.

“I –uh, the what?”

“THE STARDATE. WHAT IS THE CURRENT STARDATE.”

The voices in the cockpit went silent.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” yelled Obi-Wan, breaking out of the being’s grip.

The being stood up quicker than he would have expected and swung a fist at the Jedi’s head. He was still groggy from his injuries, so Obi-Wan was easily able to duck it. However, he wasn’t able to duck the hands that were starting to close around his throat.

Anakin leapt into the room, his lightsaber ignited. Seeing the being trying to strangle Obi-Wan, he was about to swing his weapon at the being when Ahsoka pushed him aside.

“What are you-” Anakin started to yell.

Ahsoka ignored him. She dodged a swipe from the being aimed at her head, and kicked him in the back of the knees. He stumbled, releasing Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka used the Force to slam him into the cargo bay’s wall, knocking him unconscious.

Ahsoka turned back to Anakin and Obi-Wan, who was still trying to breathe normally. “Master, I highly doubt the council would approve of killing someone who may have come from another dimension.”

“I don’t care if he came from Jabba the Hutt’s-” Anakin sputtered.

“This is rather problematic,” said Obi-Wan, cutting him off, “Though our survivor may just be disoriented. Hopefully, when he gets his senses back, he won’t feel like strangling me anymore.”

The Jedi masters on the holoscreen were craning their necks, trying to see what was happening in the back of the ship.

“What is going on? Is everyone all right?” asked Plo Koon, sounding worried.

Obi-Wan relayed what had happened. All the Jedi masters settled back in their chairs, contemplating the situation. They all agreed that Ahsoka had made the correct choice, but they were also concerned that the unknown being might be dangerous to them.

Yoda finally told them, “To Coruscant, bring him. At the Coruscant hospital, they can treat him and make sure that he does not attempt to kill anyone else.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone needs to make a page on Wookieepedia about the various year date systems and how they relate to e

Without any more mishaps, the trio of Jedi and their mysterious cargo made it to Coruscant. The still unconscious being was transferred to the Coruscant hospital with a promise that the staff would keep him under close surveillance.

At the Jedi Temple, Obi-Wan and Anakin quickly made their report on their original mission – the Separatists’ new planet for mining spice. Then the conversation turned the survivor they had picked up on Hoth. 

Mace Windu once again brought up his theory that the survivor could be working for the Separatists – which, he explained – could be the reason he had attacked Obi-Wan. 

Obi-Wan disagreed, however, “He is simply confused and disoriented. I’m sure he has a perfectly logical reason for crashing on Hoth.” 

Anakin snorted. “He didn’t seem that confused when he trying to strangle you, Master.”

Obi-Wan ignored him again. “I propose that we pay this man a visit in the hospital. Perhaps we could explain to him that we wish to help him – don’t scoff Anakin – maybe this will help us get him to talk.” 

“We could all concentrate on his mind together…” said Anakin hopefully. 

“No, Skywalker,” said the entire council in unison. 

Obi-Wan nodded to the council. “Master Windu and Ti, I would like to have your help in this. Anakin, you’re staying here. I will not have you trying to kill him again.” 

Anakin nodded stiffly and stormed out of the council room, followed by a slightly embarrassed Ahsoka. 

Obi-Wan sighed. Anakin was going to have to learn to control that temper of his. 

He and the Jedi left for the hospital soon after, but when they arrived, they found it in a state of panic. They had misplaced one of their patients, a doctor was dead, and two nurses were severely injured. With a sinking feeling, Obi-Wan realized he knew which patient they had lost. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Zabrek doctor assigned to the spacecraft crash ward had just returned to his mysterious patient’s hospital room, intending to give him another dose of painkillers. He instead found him awake, and pacing around the room. 

“Sir, what are you doing out of bed? I need you to lay back down, you’re injured-”

Before the doctor could finish his sentence, the patient had covered the distance between them. They were so close that the doctor could smell his patient’s stale breath. He shuddered.

Very slowly, the man asked, “What is the current stardate?” 

The doctor stepped back, “I’m sorry, I do not understand. Do you mean the year? It is year 15 in ReSynchronization Time, 980 in Ruusan Reformation, and year 3632 after the Coruscant Treaty. If you require more clarification-” 

The patient took another step forward. The doctor tried to step back, only to find himself backed against a wall. 

“Where am I?” his patient asked. 

The doctor nonchalantly reached into his pocket, and activated the silent alarm device he carried. “You’re on Coruscant. Coruscant Hospital. You’ll get the finest treatment in the galaxy here. Now if you’ll just lay back down-”

The patient didn’t let him finish. Angrily he grabbed the doctor’s neck, crushing his windpipe. When the doctor finally went limp, the patient dropped him where he had died, and walked out the door. 

He encountered a nurse outside his door, responding to the emergency alert. He simply threw her against the wall and kept walking. 

He could hear more footsteps coming his way. He didn’t care. They would not be a problem; he would kill as many people as he had to get out of this place. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Jedi had been told to wait in the lobby of the hospital while the staff attempted to locate their rogue patient. Obi-Wan concentrated on the life forms in the building, hoping that he could pick out one consciousness from a thousand others. Nearby, Mace Windu paced and Kit Fisto considered the Male Pregnancy Awareness Week poster on the wall. So many presences leapt out at him through the Force, none of them familiar, until finally, without a doubt, Obi-Wan found the one he was looking for. 

“On the fifth floor, in the west wing. He’s angry, I can feel it. We need to hurry.” 

Shaak'Ti nodded, and the four of them rushed up the stairs. 

When they arrived, there was no one in sight. But Obi-Wan could still feel the patient’s presence; it reminded him of that of Darth Maul. Obi-Wan gestured to the others that the being was hiding around the next corner. Windu signaled that he would find his way to the corridor parallel to the one they were currently, so he could not escape. Kit Fisto followed him. Obi-Wan nodded to Shaak’Ti and walked around the corner. 

Walking straight down the hall, he pretended not to notice the being at first. Then, he turned, and feigned a look of surprise. 

“Oh, hello again. I’m glad to see you are feeling better.” 

The patient was taken off guard by Obi-Wan’s friendly words. He didn’t speak, but narrowed his eyes in suspicion. 

Obi-Wan moved closer. “That cut on your face - it’s starting to look infected. You should have a doctor look at that.” 

Around the corners, he could feel his fellow Jedi waiting to pounce if they needed to. He took another step. “I was hoping we could talk about the-”

From around the corner, he heard Fisto and Windu protest loudly. Then, about one hundred clone troopers poured into the hallway. 

The patient yelled in anger. Obi-Wan turned to the commander, currently aiming a rifle at the patient’s chest. 

“Excuse me, what are you doing?” he said indignantly, “This is a Jedi matter!” 

The commander saluted as best he could without taking his eyes off the patient, “Orders from the Chancellor, sir. We are to arrest this being and transport him to the Central Detention Center.” 

“But the Jedi Council did not appr-”

Cutting off Obi-Wan’s words, the patient screamed again and charged the nearest trooper. The clone had no time to shoot as the patient tackled him. Obi-Wan was reminded of a cornered animal, who knew he had no way to escape but fought anyway. He was then pushed out of the circle of clones and back to where the rest of the Jedi were standing. Immediately, he heard many clone troopers behind yell in pain, and knew that the patient would give them a difficult fight. 

“What now?” asked Windu, glaring at the clones. 

Obi-Wan shrugged. “We cannot go against the word of the Chancellor,” he said bitterly.

Kit Fisto surprised them all by grinning at Obi-Wan’s words. “Why don’t we just leave them to it then?” Another clone scream rang out behind them. “I’m sure they will be able to subdue him… eventually.” 

Shaak’Ti suddenly smiled back. “Eventually,” she agreed. 

Obi-Wan looked disappointed at this. “I thought I might have been getting somewhere with him. I suppose not. Hopefully the army will able to get something out of him without too many more injuries.” He winced as there was a loud crash and more screams from the circle of fighting clones. 

Kit put an arm around his shoulder. “That’s the spirit, Kenobi! Dinner at the Coruscant Bar, on me?” 

With one last look at the mass of clones, the Jedi left the troopers and the patient to their fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone needs to make a page on Wookieepedia about the various year date systems in the SW universe and how they relate to each other. The years the doctor gives here are from my original fic and I have no idea where I pulled them from. I also don't know how a person in the universe would tell the date to someone else. Do they have abbreviations like our BC and AD or what?? I didn't know what to do and its 12:30 here so I just left it as it was originally written.


	4. Chapter 4

“Did you hear about the Coruscant Crab-Spiders?” the green Rodian asked of the group.

“Tragic.” The Balosar shook his head. 

“Coruscant Cry-Babies!” shouted a Togruta from a nearby table. His group and some nearby guards chuckled evilly. 

Moralo Eval sulked at the end of the table, oblivious to the situation in front of him. His lunch group was ignoring him again! It wasn’t his fault everyone thought sports news was more important than the trade embargo on Dac. Fortunately, he had a backup conversation starter. 

“I hear they’re bringing in a new shipment of prisoners today,” he said casually, interrupting the Balosar’s colorful description of what the Togruta’s group should do with their taste in sports. 

The rest of the group turned back to him. Casually poking at his lunch rations, the Phindian explained what he had overheard from a pair of guards outside his cell. “They said, and Bane can back me up on this, that there was some near-human coming in. They said he was picked up after crashing on Hoth and he’s already killed about fifty clones and ten doctors – with his bare hands. I heard that they didn’t even give him a trial, just picked him up and sent him here, hoping they can just keep him from killing anyone else before they figure out where he came from.” 

Cad Bane, who had previously been sitting deep in thought, contemplating his food, looked up at them. “Got some scary lookin’ tattoos dey said. Dey said dey heard from a clone trooper dere that he was worse den fightin’ General Grievous. Xandu-poodoo crazy eyes darker den Aurra Sing’s-”

Just then, the klaxon signaling an emergency went off. There was a collective groan from the gathered prisoners. They would have to be rushed back to their cells without their lunches, and depending on how long the emergency took, they might miss dinner. Grumbling, Moralo and Cad walked to their designated guards. One was a battle-hardened retired commander nicknamed Iceberg; the other was a nervous “shiny” who seemed terrified at the very sight of Cad. The clones marched them out of the dining hall and towards the left wing. 

As they turned the corner on the second floor, right before the entrance to Cad and Moralo’s shared cell, they saw a battle taking place. No more than ten guards were attempting to force a prisoner into the previously empty cell next to theirs. The prisoner in question could only be the one the pair had heard about earlier. Tall, muscular, and tattooed, the man was fighting as hard as he could to get out of the grip of the guards. The shiny leading Cad and Moralo made a squeaking sound and the commander started forward to help his fellow guards. The pair of prisoners looked at each other, and then back at the struggling being. Moralo couldn’t help but notice that Cad had that look in his eye - the one he got when he was planning a new escape attempt. 

Finally, the guards managed to fling the still fighting prisoner into his cell and activate the force field. With a sigh of relief, half the clones flopped down on the floor, or slumped against a wall, breathing heavily. There was a loud thump from the newly occupied cell, and all the guards jumped. Quickly, Cad and Moralo were led towards their own cell. Through the force field, Cad could see the man lying on the floor, looking dazed. The man had apparently not known, or had forgotten, that one could not simply walk through a force field. 

Once securely in their cell, the two prisoners discussed their new neighbor. 

“What de crink was dat??” Cad wanted to know. 

Moralo shrugged. “Looks near-human, but he had pointed ears – did you notice? Like a Saikyan. I can’t place those tattoos though.” 

About a half an hour passed, and Cad was sitting on the floor by the door, reading a smuggled copy of “Bounty Hunters Before the Republic,” one of his favorite books. Moralo was lying on his bed, probably reading some dirty magazine. 

A shadow passed in front of his door, and Cad looked up, expecting to see a guard walking by. Instead, it was his new neighbor, who had somehow managed to get out of his cell. 

Cad jumped up. “De crink!! How de hell did he do dat?” 

The prisoner didn’t notice Cad, nor did he seem to notice anything around him. His eyes were set on some spot ahead of him and to Cad they appeared lifeless. He wasn’t running from his cell, he was just walking away, as if he had just exited the front door of his home and not a heavily fortified prison cell. 

Moralo left his magazine and joined Cad in gawking at the prisoner. Once he was out of their sight, the two looked at each other. 

“Credits for your thoughts Bane?” 

Cad narrowed his eyes. “Hmmmm. I think dis new prisoner might be of some use to us…”

The Phindian snorted. “To you, maybe. I have no intention of leaving until I know for sure I have that job. You know, the one I was telling you about with the Chancellor and The Box…” Cad turned back to his book, “For the love of Quay, Eval, if I have to hear another word about your damn box I will find the largest box I can and shove it up your-” The alarm sounded again, causing the pair to groan, and soon the prisoner was dragged past their door by a large group of guards and thrown back into his cell. 

Around the time they would normally eat dinner, the alarm went off yet another time. 

“Dammit, I hope he’s not goin’ to keep doin’ dat. Its goin’ to get real annoyin’ real fast.” Cad complained, throwing down his book. This time, they couldn’t see the prisoner, but they could hear a loud commotion outside their door. 

“Oh, they’re sending in a doctor now,” Moralo said, craning his neck to look at the situation, “Heh heh, poor fellow.” 

“Don’t know why dey didn’t do dat in the first place. Ain’t nothin’ stoppin’ dat fella ‘cept death or some real strong drugs.” 

It seemed to have worked, and the doctor seemed to have survived, must to Moralo’s displeasure. There were no more alarms that night. However, a few hours later, Cad heard noises from next door just as he was about to fall asleep. It sounded like shouting, though he was certain it was not a guard shouting. 

“Awww crink.” Moralo groaned and put his pillow over his head. “Shut up!” 

Cad climbed down from his bunk and went over to the wall shared by the two cells. He could barely make out what the prisoner was yelling. At first, he thought the prisoner was just swearing, but listening carefully, Cad could hear that it sounded like “spock.” 

“What’s a ‘spock’?” he asked his roommate. Moralo grunted and rolled over. “Maybe it’s a name.” Cad thought out loud. 

The Phindian rolled back over and threw his pillow at Cad. 

Returning to his bunk, Cad hoped that they would be allowed back into the dining hall the next day. He might be able to talk to his neighbor, and have him help his group on the next escape attempt. For another hour, Cad thought in his bed about how they might accomplish this. By the time he fell asleep again, the prisoner had not stopped yelling. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One does not simply walk through a force field.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day, the prisoners were finally let back into the dining hall, but Cad was disappointed to see his new neighbor was not present.

“And good riddance to him too!” exclaimed Moralo Eval when Cad brought up his absence. The rest of the table agreed enthusiastically. 

On his way to the mess hall, Cad had tried to sneak a peek into the prisoner’s cell, but he hadn’t seen anyone. He didn’t know if he was gone or simply lurking in the shadows. Fearing that a strong new recruit was lost, he casually posed a question to his old clone guard on the way back to his cell. 

The guard’s name was Iceberg, named such after many seasons spent on a far away ice planet in the Outer Rim. Despite his cold sounding name, the guard was quite friendly, and sometimes would eat with the prisoners and they would swap battle stories. Cad suspected he might be doing this to gain the prisoner’s trust in order to trick them into accidentally telling him any escape attempt ideas. Despite this, he still felt the old clone was one of the only honest guards in the prison, as well as the most knowledgeable. 

“Have you heard about where dat fella went?” Cad asked, gesturing to the cell as they walked by. “I haven’t heard a peep from him since last night.” 

Iceberg’s hand slipped on the lock to Cad’s cell, though everyone pretended not to notice. “He’s been in solitary confinement for a while. We’re just checking to make sure the drugs work.” The clone shook his head. “That man took a dose that would kill a Wampa, and he still managed to paralyze one of the doctors.” 

“You know…” Cad chose his words carefully, “I’ve had experience gettin’ information out of people-“

“Regulation 274.53 section B says that no enhanced interrogation techniques will be used on the prisoners of the Republic,” Iceberg’s partner said stiffly. It was the most Cad, and probably anyone else, had ever heard him speak. 

As Iceberg finally activated the door’s force field, Cad shook his head at the younger guard. “No, son. I do have experience with torture an’ all - you can read my article in Bounty Hunters Digest ‘bout dat - but dat’s not what I’m talkin’ about. I’ve found I can be quite charmin’ when I want to be.” He winked at the young clone. 

Iceberg chortled. “We were going to let him go into the dining hall tomorrow. If you think you can get something out of him, go right ahead. It would be much appreciated. Although,” he said, suddenly grave, “Do try not to get yourself killed. I want to hear more about that job you did on Florrum.” 

Cad gave him a mock salute and Iceberg returned the gesture. Turning back to his Phindian roommate, Cad was not surprised to see him beginning to protest. 

“Bane, for Baftu’s sake, that prisoner’s no use to us! I don’t want you going around doing crazy stunts for your overblown ego – you could endanger the rest of us. Remember, I need to stay alive so that I can finish my Box-”

“Shut your mouth and your damn box, Eval. I know what I’m doin’.” 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next day in the dining hall Cad saw no sign of the prisoner, but all the guards were incredibly tense. He saw one guard berating his friend the Rodian for “talking too loudly.” 

Glancing at Iceberg, Cad gave him an inquiring shrug. Iceberg shrugged back, unreadable behind his helmet. 

Then the dining hall doors opened, letting a group of guards and one prisoner into the room. Instantly, everyone fell silent and turned to stare. It was, in fact, the one prisoner Cad was looking for. As the prisoner passed his table, Cad noticed that he looked as though he had not eaten in several days and there were bags under his eyes, which still held absolutely no emotion. Probably drugged, Cad noted. Cad’s “shiny” was attempting to hide behind Iceberg with making it seem like he was trying to hide behind Iceberg. Iceberg himself looked rather nervous as well. 

The prisoner received his food from the quaking clone servers and sat at a table next to Cad. Its occupants quickly fled to other parts of the room, but the prisoner did not notice them. In fact, the only thing he did seem to notice was the plate of food in front of him. He had worse table manners than Hondo, Cad thought. 

Hoping he wasn’t doing something that would prevent him from ever escaping from the prison or worse, Cad stood up, and to the shock and horror of the entire dining hall, he walked over to the prisoner’s table and sat down. Nearby, Iceberg was gesturing frantically to the other guards not to interfere and that Cad thought he knew what he was doing. Moralo was gesturing at him to leave the table, and the Rodian made a “he’s crazy” gesture towards Cad. 

The prisoner didn’t acknowledge Cad, not that he had expected him to. 

“Hello dere.” Cad said warmly. 

No response. 

“I’m Cad Bane. I don’t know if you’ve heard of me from the holonews, but I’m your next door neighbor.” 

Nothing. 

At the next table, Moralo hid his face behind his hands in embarrassment. Everyone else was staring at Cad with varying degrees of shock. 

“Errr, how you doin’ dere, son?” 

No eye contact, no recognition that another being was speaking to him, nothing at all! The prisoner just kept wolfing down his food like he’d never eaten in his entire life. Surely he couldn’t be that drugged. 

“I heard you the other day, when you were brought in. I heard you yelling something. I have t’ ask, what is a spock?” 

The man immediately swiveled his head to face Cad, and the latter knew at once that he had made a very bad decision. Faster than he would have imagined a drugged being could move, the prisoner grabbed Cad by the lapels of his prison suit and lifted out of his chair. Face to face with the prisoner, Cad could finally see emotion in those black eyes, but it wasn’t the one he had been hoping for. It was something in between hatred and animalistic rage. The prisoner flung Cad away from him, into a nearby table. Then, he calmly sat down and resumed eating his lunch, as if nothing had happened. The guards immediately rushed the table and removed the prisoner and his food from the room. Iceberg walked slowly over to Cad, who was trying to get the dazed feeling out of his head from where it hit the table. 

“That went well, didn’t it?” the guard said, helping Cad to his feet. 

“Yeah, it did.” said Cad, “We know now not t’ mention a spock, whatever dat is.” Clapping the confused guard on the shoulder, Cad went to go sit back down with his group. 

Lowering his voice so that the others had to lean in to hear him, he said, “Boys, I think it’s time we started on dat new escape plan…”


	6. Chapter 6

Though the prisoner did not reappear at dinner that night – he was probably being drugged again, Cad thought out loud to a disinterested Moralo – Iceberg promised that he’d be back the next day.

“We’d rather not lose him to the Coruscant Asylum,” he said as he walked Cad back to his cell, “Mostly because we don’t think the Asylum can handle him. Hopefully we can get him to calm down a bit and get used to normal prison life.” Then he turned to look at Cad, “Bane?”

“Hrrrmg?”

“You are an idiot.”

“Thank you,” Cad said with his typical smirk.

Indeed, the prisoner was back the next day, looking more drugged than before. Once again, against the logical parts of his brain that were screaming at him to give it up, Cad stood up and walked over to the man’s table. There was no sign that the man recognized Cad as the being who he had injured the previous day. Cad found a chair and pulled it over to the far side of the table (hopefully) out of the prisoner’s reach.

“We met yesterday, remember?” he asked, “Thought I’d come back over ‘n keep you company.”

There was no response, not that Cad was expecting one.

He continued anyway. “So, son. What’choo in for? I’m in for multiple crimes against the Republic. Treason, kidnappin’, murder, resistin’ arrest, arson, trespassin’ on private property, sellin’ Republic secrets, assaultin’ an officer of the Republic, murder, bein’ drunk in a Mon Calomari opera house, and… and somethin’ else with a long name that I can’t remember. And dat’s not includin’ any of the things the Jedi are accusin’ me of!” He laughed loudly, which echoed around the nearly silent dining hall. “Might be more once my good friend Hondo the space pirate and his crazy girlfriend bail me outta here.”

Not once had the prisoner reacted to Cad’s boasts. Not even a skeptical smirk.

“Auuuugh, son,” Cad said, “You don’ talk much, do you? I say you need t’ lighten up. Reminds of dis time of Florrum…”

Cad launched into a long, rambling speech about that time on Florrum that lasted until the end of lunch. Even on the way back to their cells, Cad kept talking to the prisoner, with Moralo and the shiny lurking far behind them looking apprehensive. Iceberg, however, walked beside Cad with his hand on the non-lethal blaster all the guards carried, just in case he needed to save Cad from his own stupid idea.

The next day, Cad repeated this action with the same results: nothing. By the third day, bets were being taken for how long he could stay alive. Still, the prisoner would not speak to him, or anyone else for that matter. Had he not seen the being’s strength on his first day in the prison, Cad might have simply skipped the talking and gone straight to punching him in the tattooed face to get his attention.

Finally, Cad had to admit that his plan was not working. A week had gone by and nothing had changed. He wasn’t dead either, which was a positive, but he did not like sitting around waiting for something to happen. He had to think of a better plan.

“How would Aurra Sing do dis?” Cad asked himself. By beating the poodoo out of the being until he talked, Cad realized. That was clearly not an option.

Then Cad had an epiphany. He was thinking too much like a bounty hunter. He needed to make “friends” with this being, and he suddenly knew how to do it.

He remembered the words of Hondo Ohnaka on his spice freighter one night when the pirate thought he was passed out from too much spice wine.

_“Now remember my boys,”_ he had said, gesturing to Cad, _“the easiest way to a being’s heart - and every other part of him - is through his drink…”_

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was remarkably easy to slip something in the drink of a person who did not even know that you existed, Cad thought. And the little Jawa who had sold him the low quality spiced wine had promised it would work. Cad didn’t doubt it. He had opened the bottle to make sure it was indeed spiced wine and not nerf piss and had nearly been overwhelmed by the fumes coming from the drink. Better yet, the Jawa promised him that it would not interact badly with the drugs used on unruly prisoners.

In the dining hall, Cad had causally reached over and swapped his cup, filled with spiced wine, with the prisoner’s cup. The being didn’t notice the swap, or the change in taste in his drink. Cad almost didn’t believe his luck. The universe had lined things up perfectly today. The day was Primeday, the day that the prisoners got to spend time in the common room from lunch until dinner. It would be far easier to pry answers from the prisoner there, without everyone staring at them.

Right before they lined up to get into the common room, the prisoner hiccupped softly. Cad nearly fell into the large Nautolan in front of him in surprise. He took it as a sign that things were still going in his favor. Once inside the room, Cad made his way over to his favorite, conveniently shadowy table in the corner. Like a baby nerf, the man had followed him. He was hiccupping louder now.

“Soooooooooo, son. What’choo thinkin’ of?” Cad asked as soon as everyone else had gotten involved in their various activities and forgotten about the two of them.

The being grunted. Even better! Cad thought to himself. He had gotten a response. Soon, the man might even start speaking real words!

“I don’t know about’choo, but I’m getting’ awful tired of dis prison,” Cad leaned in closer, “Sadly, I can’t take on dose guards. They know my tricks now, and I certainly can’t fight dem myself.” He sighed, “Looks like dis prison might just be inescapable after all…”

“No,” the prisoner said flatly. Finally, he was speaking! Bane had to stop a smile from appearing on his face.

“And why would dat be, son? You can’t do anything right now; they’ve got’choo drugged up to dose pointy ears of yours.”

“I’ve escaped before,” the prisoner said, still in the same tone of voice. Cad expected him to elaborate, but he just went back to staring at the table.

After a long pause Cad said, “Ahhhh… dat would help. I’ve got some experience escapin’ too, you know. We could work together, you know… errr, what did choo say your name was?”

“Nero.” He stared back at the table as though it was going to start talking to him as well. He was hiccupping harder than ever now, and looking rather green.

“Nero – dat’s wonderful. Well, Nero, I’ve been in a lot of places in dis prison, and I can tell you where the armory is, and where the control room is, and the habits of the guards…” Bane trailed off. Nero was no longer listening – his head was resting on the table, and he was breathing deeply.

“Damn near-humans can’t hold dere liquor.” Bane muttered. Still, he had made contact. Stage One of his plan was complete. With Nero at his side, Bane thought as he regarded his unconscious new partner in crime, it was time to start Stage Two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank framlacs turquoise exit vent nero has a name now im so tired of having to alternate "the prisoner" and "the being" when referring to him


	7. Chapter 7

The next day at lunch, Cad explained to the group the basics of his plan. He apologized for not telling them sooner; he had been called to the warden during yesterday’s dinner to be asked why there was spiced wine in the new prisoner’s system. Cad had feigned ignorance, and was released after telling them that he had found out the prisoner's name. Nero, he told them, was what the prisoner had called himself.

Speaking of Nero, he had entered the dining hall in his usual emotionless way. Grinning at his group, Cad said, "Watch dis." He waved at Nero, who was just about to pass their table, “Hey Nero, son, come sit here, we saved ‘choo a seat…”

He hadn't saved any seats, but soon most were vacant due to their occupants fleeing the table. Nero hesitated for a split second, then chose the seat next to Cad that had previously held a disgruntled Moralo Eval. The remaining aliens at the table had varying degrees of shock or fear on their faces.

“Boys, dis is Nero. Nero, dis is Zareen,” Cad said, pointing to the Rodian who looked like he was going to be sick, “Ratko,” the Jawa, “Dosu n’ Dube,” twin Sullustans, “Iseul,” the only Ho’Din in the prison, “and Emilo Sel'Sabagno,” a very nervous-looking Balosar.

None of the group replied, and only Emilo gave a quick, nervous wave.

Cad continued, “Now, I think, we have a perfect group for dis plan. Dosu and Dube can easily take care of de alarm systems in de building, and provide us a way out without anyone noticin’. Emilo can pilot a ship to get us out of here, and he has a place for us to lie low before I can contact my friends de space pirates to come n’ pick us up - his sister’s repair shop.”

“I don’t think she’ll be very happy about a bunch of escapees staying in her place though…” muttered Emilo.

Cad went on, “Zareen has already mapped out an escape route for us, we’ll need to get from de dining hall to the control room, to the hangar bay, without anyone bein’ alerted to our escape. Ratko and Iseul can make us some various fancy chemicals; one we’ll need is a gas to spread through the prison after we leave so dey’ll have a harder time followin’ us. For another, an antidote to whatever drugs dey’ve been puttin’ Nero on.”

Nero grunted in agreement. Dosu and Dube nodded. The Rodian still looked ill.

The Jawa reached under his brown cloak that he wore over his prison garb and pulled out a small empty vial. He squeaked in Jawaese, and Iseul translated, “We need to get a sample of Nero’s blood before he can start working on the antidote, since he most likely has a different biological makeup than most near humans. And, well, it’s a bit technical…” he trailed off.

Nero nodded. With one of his sharpened nails, he made a small cut in his palm, then held it over the vial. Cad was surprised to see that the being’s blood was the same shade of green as his own, instead of the normal near-human red. Perhaps he could sell some of Nero’s leftover blood to the Kaminoians for study; they always loved (and paid generously) when he brought them back genetic samples. Then again, he did not want to see tiny Nero clones running around the galaxy.

Zareen the nervous Rodian finally gathered the courage to speak. “Bane, exactly how do you expect to get us out of our cells? There are guards everywhere!” 

Cad waved his hand, dismissing the complaint, “Don’ choo worry your antennapalps, son. We won’t have to avoid dose guards, we’ll be de guards. Although,” he looked at Nero, “You might be a little tall for a clone trooper.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Over the next week, the group collected the materials they would need to break out of the prison. In three days, Iseul and the Jawa had Nero’s antidote ready. He would need to take it in small doses, so that the doctors watching him wouldn’t notice any dramatic changes in his system. They also started work on the gas they wanted to use, a paralyzing agent that would only affect humans - specifically the human clones. Zareen made copies of his route on small holocubes for the group. Emilo attempted to get a message to his sister but he was unable to, most likely because she was ignoring him. Dosu and Dube never talked to the group during lunch anymore, they sat with a holobook on computer systems, reviewing their knowledge. Slowly, Cad noticed the fight coming back into Nero’s eyes. He could tell the being could not wait to start fighting their clone guards and escape from his prison.

Cad had a thought a few days before their escape, “May I ask you a question, son?” he asked Nero.

Nero shrugged and kept eating his lunch.

“What do you plan to do after we get out of here?” Cad asked.

Nero looked up at Cad, his fork still halfway to his mouth. After a moment, he shrugged again. “I don’t know. I don’t have anywhere to go, but anywhere is better than here.” “You could always be a bounty hunter, or a mercenary. You’d enjoy dat, I think.”

“I’d like to find a way back to my home galaxy. I have someone I still need to kill there.”

“Sounds like a noble cause,” Cad said, “May I ask why?”

Nero’s eyes darkened, just as they had when Cad had accidentally angered him the first day they met. “I want to kill the Vulcan who destroyed my planet.”

“Ah.” Cad said. He didn’t know what a “vulcan” meant, but he figured it was a very insulting word in Nero’s galaxy.

Nero clenched his hand around his metal spoon, “He killed my wife. Spock killed my wife and my planet. All of my people.”

“Ah, yes,” said Cad, now realizing Spock was a name. No wonder Nero had been screaming it his first night. He quickly changed the subject before Nero tried to kill him again. However, he noticed Nero was still glaring into his food, as though it too had destroyed his planet and his spoon was now permanently bent where he had been holding it. Cad could almost feel Nero’s pent up anger, and for a moment felt honestly sorry for the guards they might encounter in their escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't actually know if near-humanoids all have red blood. There's no table of blood colors of different beings on Wookieepedia or anything, but it would be awfully helpful if there was.


	8. Chapter 8

The day of the escape came as normally as any other day. Not a single prisoner outside of Cad’s group knew something was happening. Even Morallo Eval didn’t notice that Cad was quieter than usual for the first part of the day, but then again, Morallo Eval wasn’t one for noticing people. As they were taken to lunch, Cad managed to slip behind his roommate to walk with Nero. The prisoner had a determined, half-crazed look in his eye. Cad knew the sedative he had been given had worn off completely.

The group was also quiet at their table. The Jawa and Iseul were absent, feigning sickness so that they could finish up work on their paralyzing gas. Zareen looked ill again, and Emilo kept dropping his spoon.

Cad finally cleared his throat, causing them all to jump. “All right, we’ve got about one hour to pull dis thing off. An hour after lunch ends is when dey bring in the new prisoners. With luck, we may be able to fly out in a starfighter without anyone noticin’, as dey’ll be too occupied with the prisoners. All of you, be ready when Nero and I come to get you out.” He raised his glass in a toast, “To our freedom.”

The rest of the group lifted their glasses and mumbled “To freedom,” as well. Cad then set down his glass and reached to grasp one of Nero’s hands. The prisoner looked surprised at this sudden display of affection, until he felt Cad slip a cold knife up his sleeve. For the first time in a while, Nero grinned.

“To freedom.” Nero agreed quietly.

The lunch bell rang, and all of the group save Cad and Nero left quickly. The pair hung behind, waiting as long as they could before their guards came to take them back to their cells. They joined an impatient Morallo and walked slowly from the dining hall. The second they went out the door, Nero made a motion as though he was about to attack the guards. Cad grabbed his arm.

“Not yet son. We wait until we’re by dat closet on the second floor landing,” Cad whispered. Nero nodded, as he stared intently at his future prey, Iceberg’s partner.

They walked slowly up the stairs, wanting to make sure every other guard and prisoner was out of the stairwell. Morallo was oblivious as usual, going on about his Box and how his Box was so wonderful – and Cad could suddenly see the door to the second landing closet, just a flight of stairs ahead. He felt his mouth go dry and his heart rate quicken. This is what he lived for; the high he got right before making a kill. Cad stepped onto the landing and nodded to Nero.

“Now!” he whispered.

Nero charged at the shiny, pulling out his blade. Cad shoved his disgruntled roommate out of the way and grabbed Iceberg, holding him in a headlock. The old clone immediately went for his commlink that he carried on his belt, but Cad tore it away from him as he pulled out his own knife. He thought he heard someone cry out behind him, but it could have been his imagination - he could barely hear anything over the sound of his own blood rushing in his head. Pulling off Iceberg’s helmet, Cad could see the betrayal in the guard’s eyes.

“Sorry, friend.” Cad said, as he slit the guard’s throat.

The clone’s body went limp, and Cad let it fall to the floor. He turned to see Nero also standing over a body. He was covered in red blood and smiling a crazed smile at Cad. 

Breathing heavily, Cad opened the door to the cleaning closet and dragged Iceberg’s corpse into it. He began to take off the clone’s armor and put it on himself. Nero followed Cad’s lead, still smiling.

Once Cad was dressed in clone armor, he took a rag from a shelf and wiped the blood off his armor. Nero was still struggling to get into the guard’s armor; as Cad feared, he was slightly too tall and muscular to fit, but eventually with a hand from Cad, he managed to stuff himself into the armor. Cad threw the cleaning rag to him as he grabbed a vacuum-mop and quickly cleaned the puddle of blood on the floor. Morallo was relatively unfazed by the proceedings, and seemed more irritated at being interrupted than anything.

“Really Bane, if you wanted to kill a couple of beings, you could have done it a lot quicker and less messier than that –“

Cad put on Iceberg’s dropped helmet, “Eval, do us all a favor and shut it.” Shutting the closet door behind him, Nero joined Cad on the landing. Though Nero had his clone helmet on, Cad could still sense that maniac smile.

“Ten minutes.” Cad told him, “We have about fifty more to get everyone out and into the hangar bay.” Cad grabbed Morallo by the arm and hauled him towards his cell.

“Hold on, now Bane,” the Phindian wheedled. “It would be awful if someone were to tell the guards what was going on. Don’t you want to give me a little, you know, incentive for keeping my mouth shut?”

“Nope,” said Cad. Before his roommate could react, Cad shot him with his stun blaster. Cad opened the door to what had previously been his cell and carried his roommate over to his bed.  
“Shouldn’t wake up for another half an hour or so.” Cad explained to Nero, “By den it’ll be too late to stop us. Now we go to the Sullustans.”

Nero nodded. Cad led him up to the third floor, following the route Zareen had mapped for him. But when the two disguised prisoners got to the cell, they found it surrounded by other guards. Nero almost ran back the way they came, but Cad held him back as they had already been spotted by one of the guards. 

Cad approached the cell and asked in his best Iceberg voice, “What is going on here, men?”

One of the guards, holding a stack of papers, answered him, “We just recovered these papers, detailing plans for an escape attempt. We believe this prisoner may have been in league with Cad Bane.”  
“Oh force,” swore Cad, “We just dropped him off at his cell, I thought he looked like he was planning something, CT-0577 said so too, but we didn’t think-“

“Raise the alarm,” said the guard in charge, a commander. “CC-3141 and CT-0577, go with the rest of the troopers, we’ll round up all of the prisoners and bring them to the dining hall for surveillance. Send a message to the female wing; tell them to be on alert as well.”

The guards and the escapees saluted and marched away down the hall.

“What now?” whispered Nero.

“Now…” said Cad, “We’ll have to improvise.”


	9. Chapter 9

The guards had gathered all of the prisoners in the dining hall, and not surprisingly, Cad and Nero were absent from their usual table. Instead, they stood with the rest of the guards, still pretending to be Iceberg and his partner, the shiny. The Sullustans were missing as well; they had been taken to the maximum security area for questioning. Cad was anxious to fight again, or at least do something other than stand around listening to the dull chatter of the clone troopers. 

It was only a matter of time until the search droids discovered the bodies of the guards in the closet. In fact, Cad thought with a sinking feeling, the closets were probably the first places search droids might look for escapees. They could be on their way back right now to arrest him and his phony shiny. Nero would no doubt be given stronger drugs and relocated far away from Cad. And Cad would probably get about a year in solitary confinement, plus he would have to spend another half a year in the courtroom for the murder of the guards. He did not look forward to going through that all that political poodoo again.

Then, the situation got even worse.

The commander whistled for everyone’s attention. “I just got a message from the Jedi; they’re at the front gate, coming in to help us.”

The rest of the guards nodded and clapped appreciatively. “It about time those flippy sons of banthas helped us out,” muttered the clone standing next to Nero.

Nero leaned close to Cad, “Tell me you have a plan.”

Cad nodded, “Ok. I have a plan.” But he didn’t.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“I told them, I TOLD the Chancellor this would happen, but did he listen?” Anakin raged as he, his former master, and his padawan raced down the halls of the prison.

“Do people ever listen to us?” asked an exasperated Ahsoka.

“At least they locked down the building before anyone got out,” said Obi-Wan. “The commander is in the dining hall with the remaining prisoners. He is going to debrief us on the situation.”

Anakin could sense the guards outside the dining hall, who tensed up at the sound of the Jedi’s approaching footsteps. Focusing, he could feel the presences of one hundred of the galaxy’s most dangerous criminals behind bars. Among them he knew, were the two he was searching for.

“Generals, thank you for coming. We appreciate your assistance,” said the commander as they entered the dining hall.

“Oh sure, now they appreciate us!” whispered Ahsoka, but only loud enough for her two fellow Jedi to hear.

“At approximately thirteen hundred hours today, we discovered the papers of two possible escapees…”

Anakin wasn’t listening again. Instead, he was concentrating on the minds around him. To his surprise, he found two minds full of raw anger and fear standing with the orderly minds of the clones.

Turning his head slightly to Obi-Wan, Anakin whispered, “They’re in the room. I can feel them.”  
Obi-Wan nodded slightly. He interrupted the clone commander’s report, “Sir, excuse my interruption, but we need to speak to your men for a moment.”

A jolt of fear flashed through the two minds Anakin was listening to.

They know, thought Cad desperately. He placed his hand on his blaster.

Ahsoka took a few steps back, guarding the door. Obi-Wan and Anakin advanced through the lines of clones, occasionally asking one a question. They were getting closer to the escapees. Nero and Cad pressed themselves back through the ranks of the clones, but it would do them no good; the only exit in the room was the one guarded by Ahsoka. They would never make it.

Unless – Cad had an idea.

“When I give the signal,” whispered Cad, “Run for the kitchen window.”

The highly reinforced glass separated the kitchen staff from the dangerous inmates in the dining hall, with only a small space that food could be slid under. Cad had a feeling, however, that while the glass might be reinforced against the natural strength of the inmates, it might not be able to withstand blaster fire.

The Jedi were standing mere feet away now. With a subtle push, Cad sent the trooper next to him falling into Obi-Wan. Though the Jedi instantly realized that it was a trick, the guards surrounding them didn’t, and jumped on top of the surprised trooper. While the clones were distracted, Cad and Nero sprinted for the window, firing their weapons at the glass. To Cad’s relief, it shattered. By now the clones had noticed that two of their number were running away from the fight instead of towards it and were firing at the escapees, but the two had already jumped over the top of the counter and hidden behind it.

Sheltered behind the counters, Nero shot at the advancing clone troopers while the prisoners in the dining hall fled towards the front door. Cad ran to the ovens, which were still cooking what would have been the inmates’ dinner. He disconnected a few wires and slotted them into different places; thanking all the spirits of bounty hunters past that Aurra had showed him how to blow up a conventional Corellian Corp. oven one night when they wanted to get back at Hondo for stealing their spice wine.

He ran back over to Nero. “We have fifteen seconds to get out of here!” he yelled. The two half-crawled, half-ran out the nearby door, still firing at the guards trying to climb over the counter. They ran past the kitchen staff, hiding underneath a table. Cad grabbed Nero’s shoulder and pulled both of them down by the wall.

Then – the kitchen blew up. Shrapnel flew everywhere. Cad’s head was slammed against the wall by the impact and Nero fell over.

Dazed, Cad picked himself off the floor, only to see that serveral long metal slivers were embedded in Nero’s helmet. He swore. Nero noticed Cad’s gaze and reached up to pull out one of the pieces of metal. To the relief of both escapees, there was no green blood on the end of it.

“Damn helmets actually do somethin’,” said Cad, “Don’t look like it’ll help you much more though.”

Nero flung his helmet off into a corner and stood up. Cad threw his off as well. Looking behind them, he could see smoke billowing out of the kitchen. “Dat’ll keep ‘em busy for a while. We’ll need to get to the control room, so dat we can unlock the hangar doors.”

They set off towards the control room, hiding in the shadows. However, they didn’t meet any guards on their way. Cad figured they were all trying to rescue their brethren in the kitchen.

“It was easier last time,” Nero suddenly said.

“Really?” Cad said, more focused on listening for approaching footsteps than listening to his partner, “Why?”

“I had a telepathic link with my first officer, Ayel.”

“Is dat so?”

“And my ship. I could talk to her too.”

“Dat’s nice, son,” Cad said. Just when he thought his partner in crime couldn’t get any crazier. “Dat’s real nice.”


	10. Chapter 10

The route to the central control room was far longer than Cad had thought it would be. He managed to get them lost several times; all the corridors looked the same to him. Nero walked beside him in silence, never complaining about Cad’s poor sense of direction (probably still brooding about his likely dark and terrible past, Cad thought). Luckily, they did not meet a single guard on their way. It wasn't until they came to the staircase before the control room that they saw guards, and it was only a pair of very scared looking shinys.

"Dey sure have some poodoo security out here," Cad remarked to Nero after the latter took out the clones.

Nero covered him from the staircase as the Duros battered down the door to the control room. Cad rushed in and killed the lone technical clone before he could even say a word, or activate an alarm. 

He took one look at the beeping and glowing controls and turned back to tell Nero, "I have no idea how to do dis... Nero?"

Nero shrugged back. "I never was good at technical things. That’s why I had a crew. And the Narada just told me how to fly her half the time anyway-"

"Do you think I should jus' press some buttons and see what happens?" Cad interrupted.

"Can’t you find the manual? Hurry up; the guards will probably come soon."

"Probably shouldn't'a killed dat last guy..." Cad muttered to himself, as he ran his fingers over the many buttons.

As far as he could tell, the buttons were separated into sections corresponding to the different sections of the prison. “Hangar bay, hangar bay, don’t dey label these damn – ah! Dere.” He found a button labeled ‘Hangar Bay Communications’ and pressed it gingerly.

"This is CT-7734. What do you need, Central Control?"

"I need a ship prepared as soon as possible. Turn off the force field doors for fifteen minutes." Cad explained, still using Iceberg's voice, "I have orders from the Bureau of Corrections to report to Coruscant as soon as possible."

"Rodger, sir." said the guard.

Cad switched off the comlink, then straightened up to call back to Nero. However, he found himself face-to-face with a glowing lightsaber blade instead; its owner crouched on the sill of the open survey window. 

"Miss me, sleemo?" Ahsoka Tano sneered at the other end of the lightsaber.

"Not much," Cad admitted.

Nero, hearing raised voices, barreled through the door and started shooting. Ahsoka grabbed Cad's shoulders and flung him around with her light saber still to his throat, so that he was between her and the gun. Nero angled his gun away at the last moment, still shooting, but his last shot hit Cad in the arm.

"Drop the weapon, sleemo,” Ahsoka barked, now supporting a near-unconscious Cad.

Nero lowered his blaster, but didn't set it down. "You wouldn’t kill him."

"How do you know?"

Nero heisted in the doorway, then fled back down the staircase.

Cad felt as though he might faint from the pain in his arm. His first reaction to Nero’s desertion was that of anger. Then again, he thought to himself, he didn't blame Nero for leaving him behind. If he had been confronted by an angry Jedi with nothing to gain from the encounter, he wouldn’t want to fight her either.

Ahsoka swore quietly. She dropped Cad and pulled out her com link to her fellow Jedi and reported the situation. 

Cad slumped down to the ground and lay there, reflecting on his failed escape. Overall, it wasn't that bad. He had gotten much farther than he ever had before. Next time, he might be able to come up with a successful plan. Half of him wanted Nero to get caught and brought back so that he could help Cad with the next plan. But the other half wished that Nero might somehow make it to freedom.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Nero sprinted down the hallway. He could faintly remember from the hologram-plan that he had gotten from the wrinkly-faced aliens the way to the hangar bay. But now the white-armored identical guards were all over the place. Nero constantly had to stop and thrown himself into the nearby shadows to hide from them. All of the guards marched in groups of ten or more, so Nero knew he couldn’t kill them all before one of them alerted the people with the light-swords. He wouldn't have a chance of escaping at all if he came up against them again.

Then, to his surprise, Nero saw one of the prisoners who had been part of the escape plan. He was the one with the antennae who could fly starships, and he was being dragged along by only two guards. No other guards or strange-looking beings were within sight. In a second, Nero had taken them out.

The prisoner, Emilo, looked around in surprise. "Where’s Cad?" he asked.

"Fell behind - the orange girl with the light-sword got him. He got some people to get a ship ready and turn off the force field before though."

Emilo nodded grimly, "Then we have to hurry. The hangar bay isn't very far from here."

They went back down the hall to the hangar bay door; Emilo with a stolen gun from the fallen guards. There were only a few white-armored men and technical workers there, all of which looked the same. Nero could see the ship that they would need to take; there was a clear path to it. He dragged the quietly protesting Emilo out onto the hangar floor towards it.

By the time the guards realized that Nero and Emilo were escapees and not fellow technicians, the two were already on boarding the ship. There was a worker in the cockpit; Emilo shot him in the knee and Nero tossed him out.

The two slipped into the pilots' seats, and the ship's roof closed with a soft hiss. It was just in time too, the guards had begun shooting at the prisoners. Behind them, Nero saw the warriors with the light-swords enter the room, but they were too late; Emilo had flown them out the open hangar door and away from the prison. Once they exited the planet's atmosphere, Emilo pressed some buttons and the ship went into warp drive.

Emilo sighed and sat back in his chair. "We made it. I can’t believe it, but we did."

"Where are we going?" Nero asked.

"To my sister's place. Then we'll meet some of Cad's friends, the space pirates, there and they'll take us to Florrum which should be safe. Relatively speaking." He stopped and thought about it for a second, "Hopefully my sister won’t try to kill me this time."


	11. Chapter 11

Emilo's sister was home when the escapees arrived at her apartment on the Sepratist capital planet. Emilo could tell by the light in the windows, and the lack of light in the garage she owned next door, he whispered nervously to Nero. 

"You go in first," Emilo told him at the door, "Just tell her you’re Bane's friend. She likes Bane." He shrunk back out of the light cast by the windows.

Nero knocked hesitantly on the door. There was no answer, even when he knocked a second time. He tried the handle, and to his surprise the door was unlocked. Thinking this meant Emilo’s sister was alright with the escapees staying there for a while, he walked in the house – and immediately found a blaster barrel pointing at his forehead. 

"What are you doing in my house?" the young antennaed woman holding the weapon demanded, "Where is my poodoo-sniffing brother? I know you’re here Emilo, you absolute sleemo!"

"Over here," said Emilo, walking slowly out of the shadows with his hands raised, "Please don't shoot him, Dina. He helped me get out of the prison."

Dina, who looked like a female version of her brother, angrily turned her blaster on the shorter escapee. "And what a waste of his time! You worthless scum-bucket! You stole my best star fighter, nerf-herder!" she shouted, "Then you crashed it! In Republic space! My best star fighter!!"

Nero backed away from the confrontation and walked into the very small living room of the apartment, which was made even smaller by the fact that it was filled by burly aliens in pirate clothing. 

"Where’s Bane?" one of the pirates asked him, leaping to his feet.

"Fell behind," said Nero.

The pirates’ faces fell. “Darn,” one muttered, “Hondo promised me a turn with ‘im.”

Before Nero could ask what the pirate meant, he heard a noise of irritated confusion behind him. He turned and saw the still-angry Dina, with Emilo still standing in the entryway with blood dripping off his face.

"Jedi caught 'im," said Emilo, whose nose looked broken, "And this is Nero. He's not from around here."

"Oh, well, that’s just fantastic. One crazy-looking sleemo and my useless brother – but no Bane!" said Dina angrily.

"He'll get out eventually, you know that," Emilo assured his sister and the pirates.

The tallest pirate stood and clapped his hands together. "Well, no time to waste crying over spilt spice wine. We want to get back before Hondo does. You comin' Emilo?"

"Nah," Emilo said, shooting a glance at his still angry sister, "Gonna stay here and maybe find a job."

“You couldn’t find a job if it crawled up your ass and laid an egg,” Dina said under her breath.

"An' you, uh, Nero. Wanna come to Florrum? We could use a good strong man like you."

Nero shrugged, "I suppose. I don't have anywhere else to go."

"Great!" said the pirate, clapping the man on his back, nearly sending him toppling into Dina’s threadbare couch. "You’ll like Florrum, it’s a lovely place."

The pirates led Nero out the door with their arms slung around him, telling him all about how much he was going to love Florrum.

Once they left, Dina turned to her brother, chuckling, "Poor man. He doesn't know what he's getting into, does he?"

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Hondo Ohnaka had just returned from a very profitable business deal with a spice trader on Tatooine. Better yet, he knew his good friend Cad Bane would be waiting for him. He had ordered a large barrel of spice wine just for the occasion. And waiting for him on the landing pad was his crew.

"Bad news, boss," said his first mate as he stepped off his starfighter, "Bane didn't make it out again – but he’s fine, he’s fine and going to try somethin’ else soon. Little Dina's brother did, and he brought someone else who I think you'll find very interesting." 

Hondo’s heart sank. He had thought the third escape attempt would work for sure. Now he would have to finish off the spice wine himself and sleep in a cold, Duros-free bed. 

Hondo’s crew brought him into the pirates meeting hall, and his spirits immediately improved. At one of the tables, there was a tall near-human wearing a prison uniform. A tall, dark, and damn handsome near-human.

"This is Nero," said Hondo’s first mate, as the man stood up to greet the captain. Hondo glanced over him, smiling slightly. The man was a bit taller than Hondo himself, and was built like a fighter. Certainly, the man would make a valuable addition to his crew. But if Bane had included this man in his escape plan, than he could not be an average near-human. Perhaps Hondo would not have to be alone that night after all.

"Welcome, friend Nero," said Hondo, throwing an arm around Nero's shoulder, "I’m sure you'll enjoy it here on Florrum. Now, can I interest you in a drink?"

**Author's Note:**

> My first attempt at fanfic - originally posted on deviantart in 2011. I've since edited it to make more sense and bring it in line with recent canon.


End file.
